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Hope Mills mayoral candidate facing weapon charges

Police have filed charges against a North Carolina mayoral candidate who admitted using a gun to try to break up a fight.

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HOPE MILLS, N.C. — Police have filed charges against a North Carolina mayoral candidate who admitted using a gun to try to break up a fight.

Hope Mills police on Friday responded to the 3600 block of Applegate Road and found that Brandon Previtte, 27, had been struck by a vehicle driven by Michael Ray, 21, of the 2500 block of Dumbarton Road in Fayetteville.

Police later stopped the car on Camden Road and arrested Ray, who was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Jeffrey Beal Jr. 19, of the 200 block of Alphin Street in Fayetteville and Michael King, 21, of the 2500 block of Dumbarton Road, were also arrested and charged with felony possession of heroin and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Police said mayoral candidate Charles Keith Bowen II, 31, was with Previtte at the time of the incident and Hope Mills police told The Fayetteville Observer that Bowen told them he pulled a gun to stop a fight at a store where he was buying lottery tickets.

Bowen said he learned the fight would continue in a nearby neighborhood, and when it did, Bowen said he fired a warning shot. He said one of the fight participants ran over his foot with a vehicle and pinned him against a truck.

Authorities arrested Bowen on Tuesday and charged him with discharging a weapon into occupied property and discharging a weapon in the city limits. He's free on $5,000 bond. It's not known if he has an attorney.

Previtte was taken to Cape Fear Valley Hospital for treatment and his condition was unknown.

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Information from: The Fayetteville Observer

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